


bold of you to assume i have self esteem, jonny boy

by ferratss



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Archivist Jonathan Sims, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hugs, I don't know how to use ao3 i'm sorry, M/M, Martin Blackwood - Freeform, Martin Blackwood Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:41:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25568419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ferratss/pseuds/ferratss
Summary: I always wondered what would happen if Martin heard some of the mean things Jon had said about him in season one, so that's what this is. :^) (it's set ?somewhere? in season two)
Relationships: Martin Blackwood & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 10
Kudos: 43





	bold of you to assume i have self esteem, jonny boy

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written in a while so i'm sorry if this is stiff! I also get worried writing fics that it's not properly in-character but i tried my best to make their personalities as canon as i can :^)

The first thing Jon noticed was wrong was the door. He was almost certain that when he'd left, he'd shut the door to his office. Yet here it was, sitting propped open just wide enough for someone to squeeze through. He forced himself towards the door, grasping the handle and peering in.

The second thing wrong was his desk. He'd left it a mess, there had been papers strewn across it and numerous tapes scattered about, now it sat with the papers neatly propped in a pile, the tapes lined up in a row and two cups of steaming tea on his desk. Jon stood there for a bit, his hand still placed firmly on the door handle until he realised there was a sound coming from beneath his desk. He stilled himself and listened intently, the sound of sniffles and faint shuffling only just making itself known. 

"Hello?" He called out and was answered with a sudden harsh banging noise from beneath the desk and a squeak of pain from whoever was under it, they must've hit their head because the impact had dislodged one of the piles of paper and it all came fluttering down. "Martin is that, is that you?" There was a brief pause, followed by another sniffle and then a small panicked  
"no?"

It was definitely Martin. "What the hell are you doing under my desk? What are you even doing in my office?" Jon's voice raised as he spoke, and he didn't mean it but it was pretty rude of Martin to walk into his office, mess up his papers and start blowing his nose beneath his desk. In fact, it was very rude. 

There was no reply from Martin and now Jon really was angry, he flicked on the lights and stormed towards his desk. Martin obviously heard him coming because there was more movement from beneath his desk and a small "wait Jon, please just wait a second" which came out in such a small desperate voice that Jon almost did wait. almost. He turned the corner to behind his desk and knelt down to where his chair had been pushed back to make just enough space for someone to crawl under the desk. "Martin you can't just barge in, mess the place up and then hide under my own desk, you better have a good excuse or-" and that was when he looked up at Martin. 

Martin was sat with his back pressed against the corner of the desk and his knees tucked up against chest, held together by his arms. His soft round face was tired and red, his eyes wet and his glasses held tightly in his left hand, its lenses were blurred with tears. He was shaking and, oh god Jon could feel his heart drop, he was shaking and he could tell Martin was holding back tears. 

Jon went silent and deathly still, he just stared in awe as Martin lowered his head into his knees and let out a muffled "sorry." It wasn't until Martin started crying again Jon realised he was being rude. Here Martin was crying and he was staring at him like an idiot. "I, I don't. What?" Really Jon? what? he scrunched his face up in pain, idiot. 

Martin was clearly trying to respond and Jon watched as he lifted his head up and tried to form words, but all he could manage were small croaks followed by another squeaky apology. Jon stopped kneeling and sat down in front of Martin, crossing his legs and placing his hands in his lap. He still didn't know what to do and was about to say something else when an answer finally must've clicked for Martin because he had his head in his hands now and was sputtering out words one after the other. 

"I just, I just came to give you some tea but you weren't here and your desk was a mess so I figured 'y'know what Martin, Jon would be real proud of you if you cleaned up his desk' so I did that and then I saw your tape recorder and-" Martin paused briefly to breath, his voice cracking with every word as more tears started to well up in his eyes. "And I just, I just thought I'd play one, and I know I shouldn't have and that it's stupid and I’m stupid but I couldn't help it and it was just, I was just..." Martin sighed, rubbing at his eyes with the sleeve of his warm red sweater, letting out a small strangled half laugh half sob. "I'm so sorry I'm such a nuisance."

Jon paused, he didn't know what to do. He was never good with comforting other people but Martin needed him and he couldn't leave him. He wouldn't leave him. He shuffled around a bit, hesitated, then scooted beneath the desk next to Martin. He felt so awkward, he gripped his hands tightly as he brought his knees up to his chest, his head was a scramble and he couldn't for the life of him work out a clear sentence. He glanced back over at Martin who was desperately wiping away tears and trying as hard as possible to avoid eye contact. Jon frowned, he'd never seen Martin so upset, he almost wanted to cry too.

"Martin, I." Jon steadied himself, taking a deep breath. He unclasped his hands and placed them gently around Martins right hand. "Martin, I don't think you're a nuisance." Martin stopped shaking, scrunching his hand up slightly from beneath Jon's touch. "Yes, you do." Martins voice was softer now, less panicked, but it was still hurt. He placed down his glasses and reached for the tape recorder, passing it to Jon who let go of his hand to take it. 

Jon took the recorder, looking down at the shining metal device. It had a tape already inside and he pressed down on the play button, watching as it whirred to life, his own voice calling out from it. And it was then he knew, he knew which tape it was. It was as his own voice came speaking back to him, he knew why Martin was upset. It was a much earlier tape, probably from one of his first weeks of archiving.

There he was, his voice as cocky and crude as ever talking about how he didn't know why Elias had assigned him Martin of all people to be one of his assistants, talking about how he was such a nuisance, such a hopeless case. 

Jon practically punched the pause button causing the tape to come to an abrupt stop. He dropped the recorder and kicked it away from beneath the desk with his foot. God, was he always such a prick? He turned back to Martin who had his head in his arms again. This time Jon wasn't going to be quiet, his head was still a mess but he knew what he had to do. 

"Martin" he spoke softly and calmly, hesitating as he placed a comforting hand on Martins shoulder. "I'm sorry." He watched as Martin turned his head to look at him, pure confusion on his face. "What?" 

"I'm sorry" Jon repeated. "Yeah, I know but, but why?" Martin had now turned himself to look directly at Jon, disbelief on his face. Jon had only just realised Martin had a patch of freckles dotted over his nose, he'd never been this close before and hadn't noticed it. It was cute.

"Because, Martin" Jon began "I've been pretty rude to you since you started working for me. I realise that now and I'm sorry. It was just a surprise for me when you showed up, I'd only been expecting to work with Tim and Sasha and I was grumpy. We had a bad first impression and I let that be my only impression of you and that was rude and for that I’m sorry. I know you're trying your best and I'm so, so sorry I've been brushing you off so harshly it's just, it's just been so stressful with the whole worm situation and I know that's not an excuse for treating you the way I have been and again, I'm sorry. I mean it. You're, you." Jon paused, he bit down on his tongue. "You mean a lot to me Martin, you really do." 

He moved his hands back to Martins, intertwining each-other's fingers carefully. Jon felt scared, he'd never really been good at apologising and Martin was so silent he was almost certain he'd fucked up. Then Martin started crying and Jon was about to apologise again when Martin rested his forehead against their hands, clasping his fingers tightly against Jon's hands. "Thank you" Martin sniffled "you mean a lot to me too." Jon smiled, he was so close to crying himself. "Hug?" he asked, and when Martin wrapped his arms around him Jon really did cry.  
He was suddenly realising he couldn't remember the last time he'd been hugged and it felt so nice and warm he never wanted it to end. He rested his chin against Martin's shoulder, clinging almost desperately to the back of his sweater. And for the first time in a while he felt at peace as they sat together, their arms intertwined and heads resting on each other’s shoulders, and he cried. He cried after holding it in for so long and it felt so good, and Martins body wrapped around his felt good too. It felt right.


End file.
